Posted 05 January 2011

Thrustmaster T500 RS

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A belated Happy New Year to all Gran Turismo fans! I hope Santa Claus brought you everything that you wanted over the festive period. If he didn’t then you might want to read on to find out details of what might well be the ultimate post Christmas stocking filler.

I can reveal that as of today, European, African and Australasian markets will start retailing what is only the second ever wheel to be officially licensed for use with Gran Turismo – the Thrustmaster T500 RS. The wheel was initially revealed just prior to the Christmas period but is officially launched today.

This is what Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi had to say recently about the collaboration;

The goal that I set for the Thrustmaster team was to design for me the most precise wheel ever developed, without any latency- to accurately reproduce the sensations of GT5, and let users truly feel the emotions experienced by drivers on real racing circuits.”The product that has been created as a result of the intensive R&D effort is certain to be on the wish list of any serious racer.

The rig has a rugged, almost all-metal design weighing in at a meaty 12kg for both the wheel and the pedal set up. The T500 RS also features precision engineered steering, acceleration and braking inputs which are designed to make the most of the real driving simulator’s acclaimed driving physics.

You can find detailed information as well as the latest news about the T500 RS on its dedicated Facebook page : Thrustmaster T500 RS.

Get a good look at the wheel in the trailer below and then check out gran-turismo.com for more information.

The Thrustmaster T500RS goes on sale Wednesday 5th January and will retail for an RRP of €499.99/£449.99. Is it destined to be the finishing component of your GT5 racing set-up?

Hello GreatestACE – OK a big stocking filler then perhaps :) Admittedly there are a few different options when it comes to wheels and this is certainly a high end option, but I would expect that this will work very well in some peoples rigs.

I don’t see much people buying this wheel at 500€. Most people who want a high end option already has Logitech G25/G27 or if not, can buy it for half the price of this Thrustmaster T500 RS… and will have an H gearstick. How on earth Thrusmaster make a high end wheel without gearstick?

What Sony has to do is add official support to G25 and G27 to GT5 too.

The price is just bonkers! I think I’ll stick with my Logitech G27. Hopefully Polyphony Digital will add support for it soon and I can actually use the handbrake! On a plus note, the gear stick works, the clutch works and the shift light works! Even without full support its better than this massively overpriced wheel IMHO.

Have PD & Thurstmaster got anything to do with logitech discontinuing the Driving Force GT? (you know the other official GT wheel).

I’ve tried to buy a DFGT for GT5, i’ve checked with Game, Gamestation, Argos and various online stores and they all say the same thing, that logitech are no longer shipping them to stores, so it sure seems like they aren’t making it anymore.

This is aimed at rich folk and not your blog-reading gamers. I guess there is some driving nuts out there in a big house with a huge gaming, sound and HD TV set up just waiting to lighten their wallets with things like this. I’d wager there’s just enough of people willing to buy this… and at its price… profit will be made. I wonder if it’s as heavy as it looks… but I suppose I’ll never know since I actually have bills to pay.

And is this crazy price before or after the increase in UK VAT is applied to it?

@Jaaay2k: there is a short gear stick, looks like it can be mounted either on the right or left of the wheel hopefully, though I’ve only seen it on the right (if you have GT5, look on the news item ingame for a pic showing the gear stick).

I remember when this one lucky guy won one of these gt-pods , which came with ps3, screen, some kinda seat and 1 of these gt-branded rubbish wheels. Guy was cool and right away binned the junk wheel and replaced it with his trusty logitech g-25. Best pr ever! life with playstation! priceless! Now u can only feel puzzled, what on earth are they thinking in japan to greenlight this monster??? no stick shift WTH?? Ill stick with my ancient g-25.

when the g25 came out i’m pretty sure it was at this price also, i have a logitech driving force gt and its great especially for gt5 plus its way cheaper than this one, but this one is the best wheel you can buy so don’t expect it to be cheap and anyway i know some hard out gamers that have spent much more than that on their race/gaming chairs that you bolt the wheel too, but as i said if its too much for you get the driving force gt it is great, Jonno.

That’s not this wheel, the one your talking about is a driving force gt, it’s a much more reasonable 80pounds, that’s if you can find it, logitech don’t seem to be shipping them to stores anymore (on ebay they go for over 100pounds or so).

Yes it looks nice but I have just got my DFGT wheel that I havent had time to use. Not only that it will cost me the same price as a new lap top which I am in desperate need of right this minute as my HP one died a few days ago with all my website back up on. So guess what I am getting??????

@Ichijoe_h yeah the latest security problem sucks not sure if they can beat this one, they’ll just have to hire geohot to make their next system unbreakable, it did stay secure for like 4 years thats got to be a record of some sort, Jonno.

Where can you get this?you say its launched, but i cant find it in any stores.I doubt santa would be that stupid though, €500?thats like what, around 1000 AUD?THATS MORE THAN WHAT MY FIRST CAR COST ME!how can a single gaming wheel cost the same amount as a fully functional car?albeit a pretty crappy car, but you cant tell me a bit of metal and gears costs more than a whole frigging car! engine, gearbox, transmission, suspension, the whole kit and caboodle!sony sure loves overpricing things, cough the GOW3 ultimate edition, cough the GT5 signature edition.But i think they have gone just a little too far here!!!!Soon they will be charging 500 bucks just for a GT5 faceplate!To be honest the fanatec GT3RS V2 wheel and pedals look much better than this, and thats only 500 AUD!Looks to me like your paying 400 for the kit, 300 for the GT symbol and another 300 for the official licensed product symbol.sony, can you please stop treating your fans like banks!?you may be swimming ...

Where can you get this?you say its launched, but i cant find it in any stores.I doubt santa would be that stupid though, €500?thats like what, around 1000 AUD?THATS MORE THAN WHAT MY FIRST CAR COST ME!how can a single gaming wheel cost the same amount as a fully functional car?albeit a pretty crappy car, but you cant tell me a bit of metal and gears costs more than a whole frigging car! engine, gearbox, transmission, suspension, the whole kit and caboodle!sony sure loves overpricing things, cough the GOW3 ultimate edition, cough the GT5 signature edition.But i think they have gone just a little too far here!!!!Soon they will be charging 500 bucks just for a GT5 faceplate!To be honest the fanatec GT3RS V2 wheel and pedals look much better than this, and thats only 500 AUD!Looks to me like your paying 400 for the kit, 300 for the GT symbol and another 300 for the official licensed product symbol.sony, can you please stop treating your fans like banks!?you may be swimming in disposable cash, but were not!

O, speaking of the fanatec wheel if anyone interested in one i have a spare im looking at getting rid of.it does not come with pedals though, just the wheel itself.i found there MUCH better than the G27, the wheel feels better in the hand, feels meatier and the force feedback feels more realistic.and for some reason the steering feels much more responsive, i need to turn the wheel much less to get drastic angle changes in GT5, just makes the cars feel much sharper.if your looking at a wheel for GT5 the fanatec GT3RS V2 is the one id go for, just keep in mind they sell the pedals separately.

How much is it to rent a track, get insurance for your racing car, fill the tank, find friends doing the same to compete, then repair the car and do it again the weekend after? Come on, £450 for a real private simulator (other are from £1000 to £2000)! it is not so much as a training tool if you are a true motorsport enthusiast. From what I could see on “inside sim racing” video (you tube), it’s the new benchmark for racing wheel: better place your order now ( placed mine on amazon.co.uk) or work harder to spare money an get it later if you share motorsport true passion.

I’m not even thinking of getting this until there’s a pricedrop and the H-shifter has been both developed and comes bundled with it. This entire release seems to be rushed, with only one PS3 game currently supporting it (read: A £450 ACCESSORY) and the PC drivers still in development. The question is, why rush the release of a new wheel into the post-christmas lull? You do know that there’s a recession on, right? And in the UK specifically with the VAT hike, I can’t see this selling well when cheaper competitor wheels like the Fanatec GT2 or the G27 do much the same thing for £1-200 less.

And why do companies continue to make advertising videos that are so much nonsense? Seriously, if I were to base my purchasing decision on the video alone, I wouldn’t touch this with a bargepole.

SCE need to get off their duff and kick PD to fix GT5 this glaring oversight in the severe lack of mid-range (lol like a €400.00(EUR), Logitech G27 could be called Mid-Range), Wheels NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED NOW!!!

well guy’s, I got mine, and YEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNEVER FELT SOMETHING LIKE THIS , except on Track! a new dimension in GT5! Toscana , Chamonix , what a feeling.tehpete & dgnfly, try it first, then talk. I leave you with your old stuff jittering in the center, mine is deadly accurate & feel so Good! Performing now!Next week I shall try it on PC too if rumour is true.